Wednesday, September 09, 2009

How My Husband (& Lionel Richie) Contributed to My Happiness Today


A few weeks ago, we got a sitter and went out to dinner. Afterwards, we still had some energy (it was only 7:30), so we went to the movie theater to see if there was anything interesting playing. There wasn't, but the theater is adjacent to a very nice mall. Several years ago, I would've laughed in your face if you had told me that I might someday get a sitter and go to the mall. That's just one more item to put on my ever growing list of "Things I Thought I'd Never Do Before I Had Kids."

We shopped for shoes, got some Godiva chocolate, picked up a free gift at Aveda, and then coincidentally passed by an upscale maternity shop. We went in with the intention of checking the sales rack, but then we saw three really "Kimmy" items (not on sale) that Brian thought I couldn't live without. While I sat outside on the bench crying because of the indulgence of it all, Brian spent more than his car is worth on 3 items of clothing for a person who will only be able to wear them for a couple more months, citing "you need to feel pretty" as a reasonable justification of his behavior.

Three weeks passed, and I had only worn one item. I'm not sure why ... maybe I have a little of my son's tendency to "save things." (He does this, for example, when there is something that he deems better than something else -- say you give him an assortment of foods to eat ... he'll eat everything he doesn't like first and save the best for last). In John's case, this makes sense and seems like a good use of executive function in early childhood. In my current case, this is stupid, as one is only pregnant for a limited amount of time, and I'm already in my 3rd trimester.

But then today I decided to wear my new ankle-length, softer-than-silk black skirt (along with a baby pink tank top from Target and a Gap jean jacket circa 1995). As I was putting on the skirt, I noticed that it had a tag pinned to the outside (safety-pinned tags are an indicator of good quality in my experience). The tag read, "NICOLE -- exclusively by Nicole Richie for A Pea in the Pod." And I thought, "Wow, all this time I have been thinking what a lovely, thoughtful, generous husband I have, and I hadn't even thought to send a mental (or written) shout-out to Lionel Richie. For, if he hadn't adopted Nicole, and she hadn't become the ice-skater/musician/ actress turned chic celeb fashion designer that she is today, then Brian would've never had the opportunity to buy me this FAB black skirt, and I would've gone to work today in a moo-moo, feeling nothing but worry that I might never shed these extra 30 pounds and/or contract the swine flu.

Instead ...

I feel pretty,
Oh so pretty,
I feel pretty,
And witty,
And GAY!
(And I pity any preggos who don't feel this way.)

There's not too many people who can say they feel GAY these days and still mean it in the old-fashioned sense of the word.

So thanks BRIAN (& Lionel!), for making my day special. If I'm lucky, then maybe later today the phone will ring, and it'll be someone just calling to say they love me.

5 comments:

mudmama said...

Awesome post, Kim! How sweet of Brian. I'm sure he did it because you are once, twice, three times a woman (ar ar, you are probably too young to remember that one!) Anyway, hope to see your new duds at our girls night out! xo L

mudmama said...

Did I say three times a woman? Ha! Should be Three times a LADY ... it's been a long day!

Melany @ Project Anthologies said...

You are a funny, funny girl.

And I love you. I would call but am out of town and all... ;)

Cindy said...

That is so sweet. Brian is for sure a keeper.

Judy said...

I missed the picture the first time around. How cute is that belly!?! It was definitely a wiser move to put more years between babies - a 4 year old and a 2 year old combo is not always entertaining. :)

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